Eyetime (Austrian GP sponsor)

Who the heck are they?

Their CEO, who just presented a trophy, has no media presence at all.  No interviews, no press releases, nothing.

Their website is down.

The company was only set up in January.

Is this a Leyton House-style branding exercise?  It's a bit weird that such an unknown has the wherewithal to sponsor a Grand Prix.

I have no idea who these people are, but talking about sponsorship did I see an amazon logo on an infographic?

There is a youtube video...

...which suggests it is an app, but it's not in the Apple app store.  Possibly an aggregator app for Facebook et al.

The instagram page has 1,469 followers.

According to the video, it is linked with two further companies, Lyconet and myWorld.  The latter is a re-named Lyoness, and regulators around the world have ruled Lyconet and Lyoness to be illegal pyramid schemes.

Well done F1.

To the OP - Google it.

Edit: Here we go https://www.eyetime.com/

Edited by f1paul, 01 July 2018 - 15:11.

They seem linked to companies named Lyconet, Myworld and Mediaworld International.

https://suite.endole...ational-limited

To the OP - Google it.

 

 

Edit: Here we go https://www.eyetime.com/

That has been down for the day.

It seems to work if you look at Google trends: https://trends.googl...plore?q=eyetime

I have to admit I wondered who they are as well. Their logo looks like it was built in 2 mins in PowerPoint.

That has been down for the day.

Well it's working now.

The Austrian Moto GP race is also sponsored by them:

http://www.motogp.co...trian-gp/255127

Edited by FLB, 01 July 2018 - 15:30.

This is so shady; absolutely hilarious.

I am completely surprised that an honorable organization like FIA has decided to accept money from such a shady source.
/s

We don't know what the promotional contract is. The FIA usually stays out of commercial affairs. Title sponsorhips are generally is more down to the circuit owners/organizers.

I was wondering just who Eyetime were on Friday, but never had the time to look it up. Nice work.

We don't know what the promotional contract is. The FIA usually stays out of commercial affairs. Title sponsorhips are generally is more down to the circuit owners/organizers.

Title sponsorship, like most things in the sport, is managed by FOM not the race organiser.

Maybe getting involved with a shady concern is the reason Bernie was in the paddock this weekend...

That has been down for the day.

Edited by goldenboy, 01 July 2018 - 16:31.

THis is how marketing works now ? You sponsor an event so people have to search who you are ? No, thanks, i don't care.

I guess they couldn't finish the actual app in time - sign up with your email address to be notified when it's ready for download?  Yeah, ok, sure.

I don't suppose any of Autosport's journalists would care to ask any questions about this?  You know, given that it's their job?

I agree, it seems super weird.

A scout around the internet reveals CEO Meglena Krumova lives in Graz, whose other notable resident with a motorsport connection is... Helmut Marko.  

Makes me wonder how cheap it is to be presenting sponsor of an F1 race.  Regardless of whether they're legit or not... this marketing exercise worked at least to a degree, if we are all talking about it.  They may well be the StefanGP of Apps, though.

They Eyetime website is deeply unimpressive.

A bunch of stock images and a description of functionality which basically describes WhatsApp.

Very weird. I wonder what the Austrian connect is... 

I'm sure they got their money, so no worries, right?

I have no idea, but this thread gets a thumbs up for how unusual this is.

I sent a tweet to a brazilian journalist and she said it's a cashback system. She said they tried tracing it but couldn't. I assume by they she meant other journos as well.

Edited by Atreiu, 01 July 2018 - 19:28.

I have no idea, but this thread gets a thumbs up for how unusual this is.

I agree, it seems super weird.

 

A scout around the internet reveals CEO Meglena Krumova lives in Graz, whose other notable resident with a motorsport connection is... Helmut Marko.  

You know that Graz is a city?  Quite a big place, in fact.  When I was there, I got the impression that many of the inhabitants didn't know all the others.

Is it unusual for F1? I'm sure a few Minardi and Arrows sponsors failed to stump up back in the day. And Super Aguri had some supposed oil trading company as a sponsor that never coughed up cash. And then all the recent-ish nonsense surrounding Team Lotus/ Enstone.

It's unusual to me, but I haven't been keeping track of GP sponsorship. Seems it's all Pirelli or Heineken. A while back it was Santander - and their but ugly trophies.

You know that Graz is a city?  Quite a big place, in fact.  When I was there, I got the impression that many of the inhabitants didn't know all the others.

This is true.  I lived in Graz for 10 years, and never knew Helmut Marko 

It happens far more in F1 than it should - Broker, Qadbak, Prince Ado, Shannon (who bought Forti), various drivers who sent in rubber cheques.  But this one seems a bit different because if they had no money up front then surely the OASC would have put the thing back out to tender.  And if you're putting money through it then it's not a great way to get money back.  Unless they flogged the paddock tickets for gazillions.

I sent a tweet to a brazilian journalist and she said it's a cashback system. She said they tried tracing it but couldn't. I assume by they he meant other journos as well.

Now it makes sense, journalists taking kickbacks and. We have CNN so we've see this before...... a lot.

It happens far more in F1 than it should - Broker, Qadbak, Prince Ado, Shannon (who bought Forti), various drivers who sent in rubber cheques.  But this one seems a bit different because if they had no money up front then surely the OASC would have put the thing back out to tender.  And if you're putting money through it then it's not a great way to get money back.  Unless they flogged the paddock tickets for gazillions.

Yeah, but it's not just the OASC. Eyetime have a deal with Dorna for the Austrian Moto GP race too... Which is why I think it's more of a local connection thing. It's not just F1.

You know that Graz is a city?  Quite a big place, in fact.  When I was there, I got the impression that many of the inhabitants didn't know all the others.

Didn't say they knew each other! 

Now it makes sense, journalists taking kickbacks and. We have CNN so we've see this before...... a lot.

Nothing I wrote implies any sort of bribery. Be careful with assumptions.

I am completely surprised that an honorable organization like FIA has decided to accept money from such a shady source.
/s

Considering the location of some of the races and the rights issues they have some app company with a questionable business model is small potatoes.  

Be careful with assumptions.

Exactly. We really don't know very much yet. Just that the whole thing is... intriguing.

It's unusual to me, but I haven't been keeping track of GP sponsorship. Seems it's all Pirelli or Heineken. A while back it was Santander - and their but ugly trophies.

F1 essentially appears to have lost individual sponsors for Grands Prix some years ago.

Looking at the races, 16 officially have a title sponsor. However 11 of those are from general F1 sponsors (Rolex, Heineken, Emirates, Pirelli, Johnnie Walker), who all presumably sign on to sponsor a number of races as part of the broader deal. Another three are the state-owned airlines of countries with state-owned races, so again that's presumably linked to the race contract, and it's probably the same with Russia and the state controlled VTB bank. So Eyetime is most likely the only company to come to an individual agreement with FOM for a race sponsorship.

It is very odd. The deal was only announced a month ago, not necessary unusual but not normally the way an event on this scale does things. There's been plenty of obscure and dodgy "sponsors" in F1 before, but not usually at this level, and FOM's other partners in recent times have all been large, well known corporations - not start-ups no one has ever heard of. The links to a potential pyramid scheme makes the whole thing weirder still. There was a general assumption Liberty would run a straighter operation than Bernie too.

Well for their sake, I hope they've been paid in full...

Did anyone ever find out who/what T-Minus was?!

 

 

Despite a general belief that the 't-minus' logos adorning the sidepods of this year's Arrows cars pointed to the unveiling of a major new sponsor or chassis development, nothing appeared to be any different at Imola.

There was a feeling of disappointment and anti-climax when, at 't+1', the team revealed that the ruse simply drew attention to its latest branding idea. 'T-minus' was dreamt up by new Arrows boss, Prince Malik, as a universal brand name which will be licensed to manufacturers wishing to promote their products in tandem with Arrows. The advantage, according to Prince Malik, is that manufacturers can benefit directly from a global marketing facility offered by his company, while appearing on the sidepods of the team's cars at no extra cost.
Much had been made of a possible link with Italian car manufacturer Lamborghini, with rumours suggesting that Arrows had signed a deal to use Lambo engines in its cars. In contrast, the connection merely pointed to the possibility of Lamborghini launching a limited 't-minus' edition of its Diablo model.

Well this is very odd, how have they managed to afford title sponsorship? No one has heard of them, the website is a joke I read it 3 times and still never got a clear answer to what the product is other than "it's a app" and the product hasn't even launched. Stuff all over the internet saying its a scam/pyramid scheme. Not what F1 needs. What next? Dominic Chappell buys Force India for £1?

What next? Dominic Chappell buys Force India for £1?

I have no idea who he is but don't give him any ideas!

bring back those blessed tobacco days

Nothing I wrote implies any sort of bribery. Be careful with assumptions.

Sorry if I implied that.

Further research reveals that Malik never actually stumped up any cash and vanished toward the end of the year.

 

"I'm not like these people. I swim with sharks." Malik Adoo

Will be on all eyes on the bill when it's not paid...